A comparative cohort study of post-COVID-19 conditions based on physical examination records in China
Zhong Liu, Boqiang Hu, Tao Zeng, Cuiping You, Nan Li, Yongjing Liu, Jie Zhang, Chenbing Liu, Piaopiao Jin, Xiaoxi Feng, Jun Chen, Jinyan Huang
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus infection, is characterized as a multisystem disease, potentially yielding multifaceted consequences on various organs at multiple levels. At the end of 2022, over 90% of the Chinese population was infected by SARS-CoV-2 within 35 days because of adjustments to epidemic prevention and control policies. This short-term change provides an unprecedented opportunity for comparative studies on COVID-19 infection among large populations. METHODS: In this study, the physical examination data of 136,713 people in the past three consecutive years was employed to study the impact of COVID-19. Standard physical examination data, comprising evaluations of nearly a hundred indicators, were investigated for a comprehensive assessment of COVID-19's effect on human health. FINDINGS: The results suggested that most indicators remained stable or changed within a permissible range after the COVID-19 outbreak in December 2022, but several specific indicators presented abnormal patterns of varying durations. There was an observed increase in the fraction of T-wave abnormalities during the outbreak, especially in people with chronic diseases such as hypertension, liver steatosis, and hyperglycemia. INTERPRETATION: These findings highlighted the impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular health and its potential interaction with chronic diseases. FUNDING: This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2019YFE0108100), the National Natural Science Foundation of China General Program (82270159, 82070147).